Kucha?

[Ljung93]

Hey folks!

There is a very interesting alkaloid called theacrine, closely related to caffeine, with a range of beneficial effects, and contained in large quantities in a variety of tea called C. assamica var. kucha. There's not much info available online on this variety, but apparently it grows naturally in Meng Song. It is supposed to be very bitter. Look at this interesting blog post by Zhi Zheng:

http://www.zhizhengtea.com/puerblog/men ... itter-tea/

I also found this study, which states that theacrine has been found to be a minor component of C. sinensis, too:

http://www.o-cha.net/english/conference ... B-P-78.pdf

Now I'm thinking, could this not be what gives some teas from Bulang Shan that special bitterness? I've always wondered why the bitterness of those teas was so, not just strong, but different. I have also heard Lao Man E tea referred to as "kucha".

What do you think about this? Does tea from any other mountains have this kind of bitterness?

[Teaism]

I find Hekai has this bitterness character. It is very interesting and dynamic type of bitterness. I am still playing with it before arriving at any opinion on this mountain tea.
Cheers!

[fdrx]

I might be wrong, but I think ZhiZheng is talking about the Mengsong area in the south of the bulang moutain, jinghong county, not the northern menghai one.

[Ljung93]

Teaism - Great, cause I can't get enough of that bitterness! and I have yet to try any Hekai.

fdrx - Oh, I didn't realize there were more than one Meng Song. This would be quite interesting. I hope zhi zheng sees this thread!

[Teaism]

I might be wrong, but I think ZhiZheng is talking about the Mengsong area in the south of the bulang moutain, jinghong county, not the northern menghai one.

Oh... I am floored again.

I thought the topic was on bitter tea rather than region. Kucha in Chinese mean bitter tea.

[Teaism]

Teaism - Great, cause I can't get enough of that bitterness! and I have yet to try any Hekai.

Quite hard to get Chun Liao, true mountain tea nowadays. A lot are blended. If you can find a real Hekai it would be great. I like its bitterness. Very exotic, almost like Beidou no 1 excitement in yancha.

[fdrx]

Oh, I didn't realize there were more than one Meng Song.

yes the south bulangshan teas can be very bitter! On this banna map you can find both areas: the famous one and the south bulang one "xiao mengsong" or "damenglong mengsong"... and don't worry about zhizheng, he knows all that and muuuch more

[fdrx]

If you can find a real Hekai it would be great. I like its bitterness.

i have a guangbie laozhai like that, but i thinks that it's a kind of bitterness that should mellow rather quickly, i don't know, i haven't tried it for quite a while

[Ljung93]

I might be wrong, but I think ZhiZheng is talking about the Mengsong area in the south of the bulang moutain, jinghong county, not the northern menghai one.

Oh... I am floored again.

I thought the topic was on bitter tea rather than region. Kucha in Chinese mean bitter tea.

Maybe the old trees growing in and around Bulang has a higher content of theacrine, making it more bitter.

[Ljung93]

"The tea trees of Lao Man E grow very large leaves with thick and furry buds. There are two varietals in this area, one gives bitter tea (Ku Cha 苦茶) and the other one gives sweet tea (Tian Cha 甜茶)."

From here:

http://articles.bannacha.com/index.php? ... /lao-man-e

[asset8]

Hello there,
Is there anywhere online that I can buy Kucha tea from in the uk?
Thanks for your time.